The Memories We Share
by MangaFreak15
Summary: Ed's transmutation fails. The Gate takes away his ability to age and Al is turned into a baby. Afraid of what the military would do, Ed runs away. Nine years later, Roy finds Ed shot to death in his own house, with Alphonse crying over him. SEQUEL IS UP.


**I felt like writing something dark.**

**Summary: Edward's transmutation fails. The Gate takes away his ability to age and turns Alphonse into a baby. Afraid of what the military would do, Ed disappears. Nine years later, Roy finds Edward shot to death in his own house, and a nine-year old Alphonse crying over him and wondering why he won't wake up.**

**Warning: Alternate ending to the anime.**

* * *

**The Memories We Share**

* * *

"Al? Al?! AL!" Edward panicked, for his little brother whom he loved so dearly was missing.

The wails of a crying baby filled his ears. Rose quietly hushed her son, stroking her fingers through his short, dark hair. "He sacrificed himself for you," she said, looking apologetically at him.

Edward looked down at the ground bitterly. He turned to Rose, "You should go back to the surface."

"What will you do?" she asked quietly, standing up.

Edward cast a glance around the hall. "I'm going to destroy this place," he replied, "so that no one ever thinks about making a Philosopher's Stone this way again."

Rose smiled sadly, as if understanding what he was going to do. "You'll follow soon, won't you?" she queried, still hopeful. "You have strong legs. You'll use them."

Edward grinned at her as she repeated the same words he'd told her at the end of the Leto Church scam.

Rose took one last look at the boy she'd come to admire, before disappearing into the maze of empty streets. Edward, after making sure Rose was gone for good, stripped himself of his jacket and undershirt. He looked around for something sharp to cut his finger with.

Finding a sharp rock near the entrance of the hall, he slit his left index finger, not too deeply, and drew four transmutation circles on his body.

He stood in the center of the array, taking a deep breath and thinking about his brother.

_Alphonse . . ._

He activated the array, glowing blue and mysterious. Again he arrived at the Gate, pleading for them to give his brother back. The transparent figure seemed irritated with him by now, so he decided not to take away any physical limbs.

Edward was startled when the Truth spoke, "In exchange for your little brother, we will take away your ability to age past twenty years. You can still die like a human, but only through sickness, poison or murder."

"And Al?" Edward questioned.

"He will have a fresh start as a baby and will not remember anything that happened in his previous life," the Truth replied.

Edward bowed his head. "I will accept this deal," he said softly, even though he still had a hard time accepting that he could possibly watch old friends grow old and die while he remained youthful all his life.

In a bright flash of light, Edward found himself lying face-down on the array. He grumbled as he sat up, but then remembered what the Truth said.

His head whipped around in shock as the soft crying of a baby, not as harsh or loud as Rose's son, came to him. Edward spotted a small bundle not too far away and ran to it in panic. He peeled back the covers from the baby's face and stared down in shock at a small head with small blond fuzz covering the scalp.

He picked up the bundle in his arms, trying to remember how his mother used to calm him when he cried. Subconsciously, he began to imitate Rose's actions and stroked the baby's cheek gently as he rocked back and forth on his heels.

Minutes later Alphonse quieted and fell asleep. Edward snapped out of his little trance and smiled sadly down at the little bundle. "Al . . ." he whispered, tears gathering in the corners of his golden eyes. "I'm so sorry . . ." Yet he refused to let them fall.

Edward walked out of the hall, past the empty streets and abandoned houses, and continued to the surface. A stray thought suddenly crossed his mind, _How do I explain Al to the military?_

The fact that he had completed a perfect human transmutation, minus Alphonse being a baby again with no memories and himself being unable to age past twenty, suddenly came crashing into him with the force of a bomb.

_I can't let them know. They'll experiment on Al,_ Edward thought. Calling the Colonel and his subordinates was to risky to consider. _I have to get out of Central. Maybe to a remote town where no one will find me._

Sincerely hoping that Rose wasn't waiting for him at the surface, Edward continued up.

As he approached the doorway to the surface, he was relieved to find that Rose was long gone and there were no military personnel in sight. He slipped away into the shadows of a street, never looking back, and not to be seen by the military for the next nine years.

* * *

The phone rang in the Rockbell household. Pinako stopped what she was working on and hopped off the stool to pick it up. "Hello, Pinako Rockbell here," she said gruffly into the phone.

A voice she vaguely recognized as Ed's superior officer, Colonel Mustang, spoke, though oddly it was a little shaky, _"Pinako Rockbell, you said? Would you please put Miss Rockbell on the phone? I have bad news about Fullmetal."_

"What did he do this time?"

"_I would like to speak to Miss Rockbell about that matter."_

Pinako rolled her eyes, turned around with the phone in her hand and called up the stairs, "Winry! Someone from the military wants to talk to you!"

Winry came down the stairs with a curious look on her face. She took the phone from her grandmother's hand and said, "Yes? This is Winry Rockbell."

"_Miss Rockbell, I have bad news for you about Fullmetal."_

Winry frowned. "He didn't break his automail again, did he?" she grumbled into the phone.

"_No, I'm afraid it's worse than that –"_ Winry automatically assumed that her precious automail was probably shattered into small little pieces until the other person on the line told her the news _"– Fullmetal has disappeared and we can't find him."_

Winry nearly dropped the phone. "Ed . . . he's missing?" she whispered.

"_Yes. I have sent several military personnel to investigate, but no clues have turned up so far. The last I know is that Fullmetal went to confront someone in the underground city beneath Central and never returned."_

Winry's eyes filled with tears. She let out a small sob, "Are you saying that he's dead?"

"_No. There's a possibility he's still alive, because we didn't find a body or any blood that indicated he was in a battle."_

"But – but why can't you find him?" Winry asked.

"_I'm sorry that we can't do anymore. I myself am bedridden with serious injuries from a fight."_

Winry paused. "It's okay. Just – just do what you can. I'm sure he'll show up sometime," she replied shakily.

"_Very well. We'll try our best."_

"Thank you."

Winry placed the phone back on its cradle. Pinako looked pale. "Edward's missing?" she whispered.

Winry collapsed to floor and covered her face with her hands. Pinako looked on with a sad face as her granddaughter began to cry.

* * *

It had been a month since Edward sneaked out of Central. He and Al, who was surprisingly easy to take care of, were now living with a widowed woman who helped Edward care for Alphonse. They were living in a cozy, two-bedroom house in the little town of Meyenheir, far from Central and the other cities of the military.

Edward wasn't so sure if he should call Alphonse his little brother or, as Eri the widowed woman said, his son. But after a few months, he decided to go with being a father to his previous little brother.

At a year old, Alphonse could walk, but was still a little shaky. Edward began to teach him how to drink out of a cup instead of a bottle. Ed even put up with giving milk to Al, after much fuss and being smacked by Eri.

At two years old, Alphonse could walk and say a couple words like "Dada" and "Ewi" (referring, of course, to Edward and Eri). Edward found it hard to accustom to Al calling him "Dad", but adjusted within half a year. Al could also drink out of a cup. Edward still fed him baby food, but also sometimes moved on to extremely soft food that required little chewing to eat, for Alphonse's teeth were not fully developed yet.

At three years old, Alphonse could still only say a minimal amount of words with that cute baby accent, but now he could properly say, "Daddy." Ed had also debated on whether or not he should teach Alphonse how to use alchemy, to help the citizens of Meyenheir in the future. Meanwhile, the military had lost hope of ever finding the Fullmetal Alchemist and switched gears to other important topics. Mustang secretly still looked for Ed.

At four years old, Alphonse could speak some sentences. However, in the summer of that year, Eri died of a terrible sickness and Ed was depressed for a while. The twenty-year old barely knew how to raise a child without her help. Some months later, he found a big book about childcare, hidden in her closet, the margins scribbled in with notes. It was very helpful to Edward and raised his spirits a little to know that she had left the book behind for him. In Rush Valley, Winry had begun to date another man named Adrian Ephon.

At five years old, Alphonse could speak, read and write well better than most five-year olds. Edward let him attend the school in Meyenheir. Ed had gotten used to Al calling him "dad". Ed also found Eri's personal cookbook and began to cook very well. He also did chores around the house, cleaning up Alphonse's messes as well. Edward had a small growth spurt and now was at the average height of 5'8". He began to teach Al a little alchemy, repeating over and over that alchemy was not a toy and it should be used for helping people.

At six years old, Alphonse could draw transmutation circles relatively quickly. Edward was pleased with his progress. He himself helped out around the town, doing odd jobs and fixing things with alchemy. He even won second prize for the the first time in Meyenheir's annual cooking competition. Winry married Adrian, but was sad that Edward and Alphonse couldn't have been at her ceremony in Resembool. Mustang was starting to lose hope that Edward was still alive.

At seven years old, Alphonse would sometimes help Edward with his work (mainly fixing things. He had many friends at the school. During the summer, they would go and play on the shores of the lake nearby. Edward always went with them to make sure nothing bad happened to them. The other parents were thankful. Roy Mustang began to search the smaller towns that were further from Central and other cities.

At eight years old, Alphonse was extremely knowledgeable about alchemy, and never used it to do something bad. The citizens of Meyenheir knew the Elrics well by that point and often invited Al over to play with their children when he wasn't helping Edward with work or practicing his alchemy. Once or twice, bandits attacked Meyenheir, but each time, Edward drove them away. He never killed them. But sometimes mercy can come back and bite you in the ass. As the eighth year passed with a flourish, a threat stirred up trouble in the east. Mustang began to search the towns around Meyenheir's area.

The ninth year came, but it wasn't all fun and games as the other years had been . . .

It began with a dark, rainy night. Edward was in his study reading while Al practiced his transmutations in the living room. There was a knock on the door.

"Al, can you get that?" Edward called from his study.

The young boy ran to the front door and pulled it open a little, so as to not let too much rain in. A deep voice asked, "Is this the Elric residence?"

Alphonse squinted up at the tall stranger timidly. "My dad told me not to give our names to strangers," he said shyly.

"Al? Who is it?" Edward asked, coming out of the room.

Alphonse grew frightened when the strange man pushed the door wide open and entered. "Edward Elric, the Fullmetal Alchemist, is that you?" he growled, dark eyes peeking out from beneath a drench hood.

"Who wants to know?" Edward said, eyes narrow. He hadn't gone by the title "Fullmetal" ever since he escaped Central.

Alphonse was startled when the stranger pulled a gun out of his coat and pointed the end of the barrel at his head. "If you don't cooperate with me, your son dies," he snarled.

"Don't you dare drag Alphonse into this!" Edward roared. "Tell me what you want, but don't hurt him!"

Alphonse was scared. He wanted to help his father, but he was afraid that if he moved, the strange man would shoot him.

"I want to see you die," the stranger replied, pulling a second gun from his coat and shooting at Edward.

Edward dodged the whizzing bullets. He clapped his hands together and constructed a wall to shield Alphonse. "Al! Run!" he screamed. The strange man snarled angrily and began to run around the wall to shoot out the little boy, who was rooted to the floor in fear.

Edward tackled the man to the floor and knocked the guns out of his hands. "Al! I told you to run!" he yelled at his son, who snapped out of his shock and began to run to the door to get one of the neighbors to help them.

The man took advantage of Ed's momentary distraction and heaved the man off. Ed tumbled to the floor with a thud, but got up again quickly as the man took his guns off the floor and began firing madly. Edward constructed a few walls to stop the bullets, but one stray hit his left arm.

Gritting his teeth against the searing pain, Ed used alchemy to punch the man into a wall with a wooden fist that flew out from the floor. Grunting, the man struggled to his feet and attempted to fire, only to snarl when he realized he was out of bullets.

Edward created a long, durable rope to bind the man and approached cautiously. The man appeared not to move, glaring down at his used-up guns.

However, the man reacted faster than Edward anticipated. He pulled two more guns out of his coat and opened fire on the unguarded alchemist. The front door opened and Al ran in with a few neighbors, only to stop in shock as Ed was shot several times in different areas, the rope falling from his limp fingers as he collapsed to the floor, blood flowing out rapidly.

The man, thinking he'd finally killed the Fullmetal Alchemist, got up and was about to shoot Alphonse. The neighbors attempted to subdue him, but he shot them before they could reach him.

"Now . . . the last Elric," the man said, a crazed gleam in his eyes.

"No!"

The man fired the last few rounds in his guns . . .

Alphonse was startled when a warm body gripped him tightly mere seconds before the gunshots sounded. He was unable to speak as the bullets hit Ed and splattered his blood on the shocked child.

More neighbors came rushing in and finally subdued the man, who laughed maniacally about how he finally killed the famous Fullmetal Alchemist.

"Dad?" Alphonse whimpered as the warm body holding him and protected him collapsed.

"I'm sorry . . . Alphonse . . ." Ed's weak voice trailed off. Al saw him close his eyes. "So sorry . . ."

"Dad?" Alphonse shook the man. Edward did not respond. He had already passed away. "Dad? Dad!"

Some of the neighbors cried as Alphonse's keening cries of despair echoed through their heads, "DAD! _DAD!_"

* * *

Roy was tired and exhausted. Nine years . . . he hadn't seen Fullmetal in nine years. He was also searching for the mysterious murderer that had popped up several times last year and this year. This last town, Meyenheir, was his last stop for the night.

The heavy rain drenched him. Roy cursed softly as he knew he would be unable to use his gloves. He hurried into the town . . .

As he rounded the corner, he heard loud screams of agony and the sound of crying, "Dad! Why won't you wake up? Why?"

Curious, Roy walked up to the house the shouts were coming from. Several people came out of the house, crying into their clothes as they walked home. He heard another wail from inside, "It's not fair! Why won't Dad wake up? Someone tell me, please!"

Roy heard a shaky voice, quieter than the other, reply, "I'm sorry, Alphonse. Your father . . . your father is dead. He can't wake up."

Roy walked up to one of the people coming out sobbing and asked, "Excuse me, what happened here?"

The woman looked up tearfully and said brokenly, "We were too late. Little Alphonse . . . he told us that someone was attacking his father, a-and that he needed help. We tried . . . w-we tried! But that man killed him. A-Alphonse's father is dead!" And with this she broke down and had to lean on her husband for support.

Roy stood in front of the house in shock.

_Alphonse._

That's what the woman said. Wasn't Alphonse the name of Fullmetal's little brother?

Roy walked inside, dreading what he would see . . .

And it was far worse than he imagined.

Blood. The sickening smell of iron permeated the air of the house along with the stench of rain. Some of the townspeople were next to a bloody body, trying to comfort a little boy who was bawling his eyes out and repeating that same phrase over and over, "Why won't Dad wake up?"

Roy Mustang crossed the bloody threshold and knelt down next to the body. One of the citizens looked up at his face and whispered, "You're a traveler. Would you please pray for this poor boy's father?"

Roy looked down at the quickly cooling body, walking to another location to see the face of the dead man . . .

Edward Elric.

Roy wanted to throw-up. He collapsed next to the body blankly. The dead man was Edward Elric. The military man couldn't believe it. The man who was lying dead in a puddle of his own blood (which came from multiple bullet wounds in his body) was the same obnoxious little brat that had accepted the silver pocket watch thirteen years ago. The same kid who was so sensitive about his height, the one that Roy enjoyed teasing, and the one that disappeared nine years ago, the one who Roy had been searching for all this time. Right here. In front of him. _Dead._

And suddenly, Roy almost felt like crying too.

The townspeople got up slowly, trying to coax the little boy away from the body. "We can't do anything, Alphonse," one neighbor choked. "We should give him a proper burial."

The boy shook his head and held one of his father's cold hands in his smaller ones. "Dad will wake up," he insisted, tears leaking from his bronze-colored eyes. "He will. I know he will. He always does . . . why won't he now?"

It nearly broke Roy's heart to hear words so similar to what Hughes' daughter had asked.

"Alphonse Elric . . ." he whispered, catching the boy's attention. "That is your name, right?"

The boy nodded slowly, not knowing who the strange man in blue clothes was. "Are you a military soldier?" he asked.

Roy nodded. "I knew your father well. He was once my subordinate. It's just . . . so hard to see him dead," he said.

Alphonse sniffed loudly. "Dead . . . so Dad's really gone . . ."

And he burst into tears. One of the neighbors hugged him, gently rocking him back and forth. The motion only made Alphonse sob harder, for it reminded him of the times Ed would rock him to ease his nightmares or try to get him to sleep.

Roy stood up. "We should give him an honorary funeral," he said to the remaining townspeople. "We should bury him in his hometown."

"Thank you," a woman whispered.

"It's the least I could do for someone I care for," Roy answered quietly, turning to leave the house to make a few phone calls. He wasn't sure if he'd be able to sleep tonight.

The following morning, he called the Ephons.

"_Hello, this is Winry Ephon speaking,"_ a familiar voice answered.

"Hello, Mrs. Ephon," Roy said. He cleared his throat, for it seemed to have a lump in it. "I . . . I have bad news."

A sigh came from the other side. _"You still haven't found him?"_ Winry asked.

"About that . . . I did find him," Roy said.

"_Oh! Isn't that good news? Where was he? How's he doing? Is Alphonse with him? Why hasn't he contacted any of us?" _a rapid stream of questions came through, but there was only one thing Roy could say.

"I did find him," he began, trying not to choke on his own words, "but . . . he's . . . Fullmetal's . . ."

"_Well?"_ Winry's asked impatiently.

Roy steeled himself. "Edward Elric . . . he's dead."

* * *

_CRASH!_

Adrian poked his head out of the indoor workshop at the loud sound, only to find his wife standing stock still in front of the phone, said phone on the floor.

"Winry?" he asked cautiously.

His wife didn't hear him. She trembled as she picked up the phone, and she began to cry. "W-what do you mean?"

"_I meant what I said. I arrived in Meyenheir last night and Elric was dead. He was shot to death by the same murderer who has been stirring up trouble in the East."_

"No . . ." Winry sobbed. "What about Alphonse?"

"_You might not believe me, but I've found Alphonse too. He's somehow turned into a nine-year old kid and called Edward 'Dad', for reasons I don't know."_

Winry was silent. "Will you . . ." she gulped. "Will you bury him in Resembool? Next to his mother?"

"_Yes, the townspeople have agreed that it would be best for him to be buried in his hometown."_

"Thank you . . . thank you . . . when? When will you –"

"_We'll try to do it this Sunday."_

"Alright. Thank you, General Mustang."

Winry hung up. Adrian put his arm around her and asked gently, "What's wrong?"

Winry began to cry hard. "He's dead . . . oh, Adrian," she sobbed. "Do you remember when I told you about someone I was trying to find? My childhood friend Edward Elric?"

"Yes."

"He's dead . . . General Mustang has informed me that he was shot to death . . . t-they're going to bury him in Resembool, our hometown."

* * *

Within a week, everyone had heard of the death of Edward Elric, the Fullmetal Alchemist, the alchemist of the people.

Many came to his Sunday funeral. They were all surprised when Roy showed up with some blonde kid clinging to him.

Winry saw the little boy attached to Roy. "Alphonse?" she murmured, walking over to him.

The little boy looked at her, bronze eyes swimming with unshed tears. "You're Winry Rockbell Ephon, aren't you?" he asked. "Mustang told me that you knew my dad."

Winry was startled. "Your father?" she asked. "You mean . . . _Edward?"_

Alphonse nodded. "Right."

"Why do you think Edward is your father?"

"Isn't he? He raised me. He told me he was my dad."

Winry hugged him, tears falling silently down her cheeks. "Al . . . Edward should be your older brother, not your father," she said.

"But I don't have an older brother," Al protested. "Edward is my daddy."

Winry stayed silent. If Al was content with calling Edward _'dad'_ she shouldn't have a problem with it either . . . right?

The funeral was short and beautiful. When everyone else had left, Al was alone standing in front of his father's grave, reading over and over again while crying to himself:

_Colonel Edward Elric_

_1900 – 1925_

_Beloved soldier, brother and father._

_May you rest in eternal peace._

_We will always remember you._

* * *

**The end of a dreadfully sad one-shot. Can't believe it took me around four hours to write this! This was a super sad story, but I hope you liked it anyway. Reviews, please. No flames. Thank you very much.**

**MangaFreak15**


End file.
